MVMMS Field Trip Request

Transcript (~7 min @ 58:52)

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▶ 59:07 Speaker 4: educational programs and personnel subcommittee portion of tonight's agenda first up we'll talk about the field trip as this is subject to a vote prior to discussion I'll entertain a motion at this time motion proof second

▶ 59:29 Speaker 4: motion made by mr. O'Connell seconded by miss McAndrew discussion miss McAndrew

▶ 59:36 Jennifer McAndrew: would you like to lead yep thank you thank you I I'm I'm in favor of this just for the record but I did have some a couple of questions or actually more of a I guess a comment you know we've seen a couple of these now this is eighth-grade three-day field trips there's one that we approved initially a few weeks ago a few meetings ago to New York City for three days for students who are taking Spanish I believe and this is for students who take French as we do more and more of these and I think that they're great opportunities I do notice that the number of students who can participate is limited and is definitely lower than the number of students who are enrolled in those languages and so I'm just wondering if particularly as we start to look at enrollment in the middle school increasing in the next few years I'm just I'm hoping we can take a look at how we could maybe expand these I know know this is being offered as first come first serve or maybe even a lottery if it comes to that so I just think you know if there's a way and I know there's all kinds of other financial considerations and there's there are programs in place to help with that for students who maybe can't afford it but I I want to us to maybe just think about how we could make sure that this is available to more students who might want to participate so you I don't

▶ 1:00:57 Speaker 3: believe you were on the committee when Rob Mahoney first came forward and had this idea of international travel for our eighth graders and we told him he was going to go to Costa Rica and we told him start small mm-hmm and this was his foray into starting small what they would like to do eventually is mimic the high school in what the high school does with their foreign exchanges I think that's a larger conversation to which we should divide invite the next middle school principal as well as the teachers because I think there is an age differential here that impacts how many teenagers you want to be traveling with and so I think that is also the consideration here it's not it this is a several day trip into a foreign country with passports unlike when we go to New York City and we can take two three buses and it's a one-day trip so that I think that's part of the consideration also as to why we're going small and and

▶ 1:02:05 Jennifer McAndrew: I appreciate that comment and I get it I'm just thinking that as we move forward I'd like to see us think about because you may you know it's offered and you may be I don't know I'm just guessing but you may be surprised by the interest when you start to have 70 even 80 kids who are taking French and only 30 to 40 can go so I'm just something I hope we were thinking about I'm sure we are I know there are logistics I think it's a great trip it's not that I just

▶ 1:02:34 Speaker 3: want to make sure I think dr. Talbot was thrilled to hear that you are projecting 70 to 80 kids taking French I wouldn't be surprised sorry Thomas thank you for

▶ 1:02:46 Speaker 2: bringing this up mr. mr. scan miss McAndrew I was going to bring it up because I was concerned for a two and a half day trip it's a very expensive trip of six hundred and eighty five dollars and I was just concerned about I think

▶ 1:03:02 Speaker 2: that's American not Canadian I'm sure it's American because that we're good about being American centric but I'm wondering exactly how many students you think are going to get some financial support or assistance and if I just want We want to make sure we're being fair and equitable to all.

▶ 1:03:20 Speaker 3: So the reason we ask them to do this as a year out is so that they can plan on their financing, do fundraising if they have to. Some families will say to their children, if you want to do this, you need to get a job and contribute to it, whether it's babysitting or something else. So that's why we try to bring them this forward this far in advance. We do, as you all know, underwrite children, but it's done very discreetly. and we will not tell you that number of how many were doing it because sometimes that

▶ 1:03:55 Speaker 2: inadvertently lets you know who was being helped so there's um over the course of the amount of time that i've been on the committee we've approved a ton of trips which i'm thrilled by because i think travel gives all human beings a great sense of their smallness in the world but i'm just wondering from a percentage standpoint if we're running trips that include two to three hundred kids over the course of a year without giving us tipping us off at all as a percentage do you know how many we help or assist um not off the top of my head okay we can

▶ 1:04:26 Speaker 3: ask the teachers and off the top of my head yeah i do know among the things that we do is in the metco grant we have a line item to help metco kids who may need help as well so the metco grant is very conscious of doing that but we do we do underwrite a number of kids as we do for their

▶ 1:04:51 Speaker 4: athletic fees and other fees thank you any further comment I would second the comments of both my colleagues the gins as it were my daughter as did miss McAndrews daughter came back from this most recent trip and the comment from my daughter while she was entering back into the United States on the bus was to text us and say can we go back next weekend as a family I want to ensure that we extend that same experience to all of our students that want the experience so I am in favor of this yes but I would certainly entertain a larger conversation to make sure that all students who wanted access to this can

▶ 1:05:41 Speaker 3: have access so again I as I said once we have a new administration in place at the middle school maybe a conversation you want to have in the fall any further

▶ 1:05:52 Speaker 4: comment with that we have a motion on the table all in favor motion passes